The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is chock-full of quests, from the overarching main questline to the varied monster contracts spread across the Continent. These are more than enough to keep players entertained. However, there also exist a number of treasure hunt quests scattered across the regions of The Witcher 3.
Treasure hunts are often straightforward quests that lead Geralt to hidden loot caches with a bit of lore attached to them. Despite providing the player with new gear or a significant amount of crowns, these Witcher 3 quests are among the dullest in the game – mostly because they simply require the player to read a note then use Geralt’s Witcher senses to find the treasure that’s conveniently close by. Still, there are a few treasure hunt quests that stand out from the rest.
Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear
Scavenger Hunts in The Witcher 3 are a special kind of treasure hunt as they reward players with Witcher gear diagrams for each known school. That said, the quest for Cat School gear is no doubt one of the most memorable treasure hunts as it forces Geralt to face off against another Witcher – Mad Kiyan of The Witcher 3.
As Geralt searches for the feline Witcher school’s diagrams, he stumbles upon an old laboratory hidden beneath Temple Isle of Novigrad in The Witcher 3. There, he must defeat the crazed Witcher and loot the armor diagrams off his body. Further investigation reveals that the Witcher Kiyan was abducted by a mage named Ireneus var Steingard, who then brought him to the underground facility to perform ruthless experiments, testing the limits of a Witcher’s endurance. In the end, the torture drove Kiyan mad.
The Secret Life of Count Romilly
“The Secret Life of Count Romilly” treasure hunt (as well as “A Dark Legacy”) is a quest available in The Witcher 3’s Hearts of Stone expansion. Though it follows the same format as most treasure hunts, the disturbing story behind the quest makes it a cut above the rest. Deep in the Deadwight Wood, Geralt might stumble across the Arnskrone Castle Ruins, which was once the home of the Romilly family.
Should the player read through the notes within the castle ruins, they’ll find that Count Romilly was a heinous man who earned his riches through ransoming off kidnapped children. He and his band of ruffians would capture the sons and daughters of prominent families, agreeing to return them if the aggrieved party shelled out as much as 1,000 crowns.
However, problems arose when one of the children was revealed to have been marked by a Witcher 3 leshen. The forest monster killed many of Count Romilly’s men, and only when he killed the marked child himself did the leshen cease its attacks. The count then left the castle, and by the time Geralt arrives, the place is in ruins. An ancient leshen still patrols the grounds, however.
The Royal Air Force
“The Royal Air Force” treasure hunt is one of the more humorous quests in the game. Available during The Witcher 3 Hearts of Stone expansion, it triggers when the player stumbles upon an account book amid the ruins of Vikk Watchtower. The book details the arrival of a man named Nicolas Vogel, who rented a portion of the tower and used the space to rear harpies. Vogel argued that these harpies could be trained and would soon become the Redanian Air Force.
Unfortunately for him, the training didn’t go very well. Though the creatures were “cute” (as Vogel described them) as hatchlings, they soon grew vicious – quite literally biting the hands that fed, and then some. Before long, Vogel noticed that some of his assistants were missing. And in the end, someone ended up unlocking all the harpy cages, setting the monsters free. When Geralt arrives at the scene, the watchtower is already in shambles, with dozens of The Witcher 3 harpies inhabiting the area.
Applied Escapology
The “Applied Escapology” treasure hunt quest is part of The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine expansion and is another of the sillier quests in the game. In it, Geralt comes across the remains of a self-professed escape artist. Their job entails getting jailed and then promptly escaping, taking note of how they managed to get out of the prison facility.
Sadly, the escape artist’s final job took place in The Witcher 3’s Toussaint Prison. There, he heard tales about elven treasure hidden underwater to the south of the prison. In striving to acquire the treasure, however, the escape artist ultimately met their demise. When Geralt attempts to claim the elven treasure, he must first find the key somewhere in the escapologist’s exit route then locate the elven ruin where the treasure is hiding.
But Other Than That, How Did You Enjoy the Play?
In Toussaint’s Seidhe Llygad Amphitheater, Geralt can stumble across the remains of a woman and her diary. It reveals that the woman was once a student of the Imperial Dramatic Academy and was at the desolate amphitheater to practice her role. However, something went horribly wrong, resulting in her death.
This treasure hunt isn’t as straightforward as the rest as it requires the player to reenact the young woman’s performance. Doing so correctly will cause the Phantom of the Amphitheater to appear, a fearsome specter in The Witcher 3 who was an actress when the venue was still active. Defeating her and doing a little more investigation reveals that the phantom died from being poisoned by a jealous rival. Thus, her spirit found no rest and started haunting the amphitheater, preventing anyone from ever using it again – at least, until Geralt steps in.
These were among the most memorable treasure hunts in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. So, it seems not all the treasure hunt quests are cut-and-dry. Some hold far more interesting stories than others. It’s just a shame that the bog-standard ones overshadow the few that shine, but perhaps The Witcher 4 could improve these treasure-hunting quests.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
